AJ, 35, has been absent from the ring since his loss to Daniel Dubois, 28, in September 2024, and promoter Dr. Ezekiel Adamu has now revealed he is eager to see Joshua fight in Nigeria next.
Speaking with Sky Sports, he said: "We've had a preliminary conversation and we'll keep going. We're looking at Q1 next year.
"We all know AJ's always said he wants to fight in Africa before the end of his career and we believe Nigeria is actually the best story.
"Nigeria has the highest population in the whole of Africa, about 250 million people. Nigeria is the economic capital of the whole of Africa. The list goes on and on. We believe that we are actually poised to make that happen."
The promoter added his recent boxing event in Lagos in association with Amir Khan, 38, had been an "amazing success".
He said: "A new opening for boxing is in Africa. The reception has been great, from the locals, the boxing world, the government as well."
Bakole, 32 had last been in the ring in May with Efe Ajagba, 31, and The Next King of Africa is itching to fight again.
He said: "I'd take the fight with Anthony Joshua in a heartbeat. We are both African fighters, and now we're seeing boxing come back to Africa.
"Anthony Joshua doesn't want to fight me. He knows what happened in sparring. If we get in the ring I'm going to knock him out. Without doubt.
"I'll even knock him out in Nigeria, in front of his own crowd. This is the fight to make. And we need to make it in Africa. It'll be the Rumble in the Jungle II."
Adamu added Bakole was an "option" for the potential Nigeria bout for AJ.
He said: "There's a lot of options being thrown at us for this particular fight but - yes - Martin Bakole is here.
"We have a lot of options that we'll be looking at and we believe that we'll come up with something really exciting that will excite the whole world and obviously bring proper excitement to Africa as well, especially Nigeria."
